The team behind ACACIA celebrated with a morning tea
Drug and alcohol treatment for adolescents on the north shore
A new youth drug and alcohol community treatment service opened on Sydney’s north shore for young people dealing with substance-use-related challenges. The Alcohol & Other Drug
ACACIA’s inception stems from the Specialist Addiction Service for Adolescents (SASA), which began as a part-time staff specialist consultation service and expanded to include a registrar. Recognising SASA’s success, the NSW Ministry of Health granted a significant $1 million budget, leading to ACACIA’s evolution. Now, the service boasts a multidisciplinary team, case management capacity, and a child and adolescent and/or addiction psychiatry advanced training registrar position. ACACIA medical lead Dr David Gordon said the success of model was based on partnerships with other youth drug and alcohol services.
“Part of the success of the SASA and now ACACIA models has been our collaborative approach to care with the local child youth mental health service teams and local non-government organisations (NGOs),” he said. “Particularly successful has been our partnership with the Sydney Drug Education and Counselling Centre (SDECC), an NGO of youth drug and alcohol counsellors, to whom we have provided adolescent addiction psychiatry input for direct client consults and to their case review meetings.” ACACIA can manage vulnerable young individuals with complex issues who might have otherwise fallen through service gaps.
Consultation, Assessment, Care & Intervention for Adolescents Service (ACACIA) opened its doors, marking a pivotal development for the district. Servicing the entire local health district, the inaugural ACACIA team is based at Royal North Shore Hospital and Brookvale community health centres, with expansion expected as the service grows. ACACIA is a multidisciplinary service that accepts referrals from clinicians for adolescents aged under 18 in the Northern Sydney Local Health District with moderate to severe issues related to problematic substance use.
NSLHD 2024 Year in Review
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